Chandler: Red Tide
Pyramid Books | |
Publication date | 1976 |
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Media type | Print (paperback) |
Chandler: Red Tide is a 1976 illustrated novel, an early form of graphic novel, by writer-artist Jim Steranko.
The
Publication history
Preiss said the book was "created to retail at American newsstands alongside hundreds of other paperback offerings".
Steranko in 1978 recalled the project's genesis:
Chandler was a fill-in book. That particular number of [the] Fiction Illustrated [series] was to have been Ralph Reese's Sherlock Holmes book [eventually published as Fiction Illustrated No. 4 — Son of Sherlock Holmes (1977)]. Ralph had worked on it for a year, and Byron realized ... that the book couldn't get out in time. He asked me if I would do a book to replace it. There are two men you never ask to fill in on a late deadline: Neal Adams and myself. We're both overcommitted. Byron's a good friend and I tried to do what I could for him, so I said I would do this book. It was produced in 2½ months where it should have taken at least six months to do. It was my first visual novel, and it was a major project.[5]
He elsewhere said that in creating the book he used golden sectioning, "a mathematical formula to arrange elements in a unified structure, to create an image-to-text relationship that readers would be very comfortable with. The text on any given page related only to that page".[6]
Steranko, who retained rights to the character, was then assigned to create a 12-page "Chandler" story for Penthouse magazine, working with executive editor Art Cooper. When Cooper departed Penthouse, the project was canceled and Steranko was paid a kill fee.[7]
Reception
Chandler: Red Tide did not meet sales expectations, with Steranko recalling in 2003 that, "When the book appeared it was not embraced by the comic-book community because it didn't have word balloons or captions. Believe it or not, they found that shocking!"[6] In 1978, shortly after the book's publication, he said, "I was disappointed in Pyramid's distribution and promotion of it. ... They did a major mailing on it, but there was more that can be done".[5]
Illustrated-novel format
Chandler: Red Tide is similar to Harold Foster's comic strip Prince Valiant in that the narrative is carried by a combination of graphics and text blocks without word balloons. Steranko used the term "graphic novel" in his introduction, though it was labeled "a visual novel" on the cover.
References
- ^ The back cover reads: "A Pyramid publication produced by Byron Preiss Visual Publications"
- ^ Ashley, Mike. Gateways to Forever: The Story of the Science-Fiction Magazines, 1970–1980, (Liverpool University Press – Liverpool Science Fiction Texts & Studies, 2007), p.323
- ^ a b Preiss, Byron "Eisner or Steranko? Check the Facts" (op-ed), ComiCon.com: The Pulse, July 22, 2003. WebCitation archive.
- ^ "[Advertisement]". Mediascene. No. 17. January–February 1976. p. 10.
And available exclusively from Supergraphics is the special bookplate edition, limited to 750 copies. This edition is distinguished by a unique illustrated bookplate, which will be personally numbered and autographed by Steranko, Chandler's award-winning artist and writer.
- ^ a b Burchett and Mantels, p. 12
- ^ a b Archive of Epstein, Daniel Robert, "Newsarama | GamesRadar+". Archived from the original on December 24, 2005. Retrieved November 28, 2005.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link), Newsarama, July 14, 2003. - St. Louis, Missouri), p. 13
- ^ Smith, Kevin Burton. "Chandler", ThrillingDetective.com, n.d. WebCitation archive.
- ^ Dark Horse Presents vol. 3, #3 at the Grand Comics Database
External links
- The Drawings of Steranko: Red Tide (fan site)